Carlo Scissura, chair of the panel appointed by Mayor de Blasio to study the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, told Mary Frost of the Eagle that the panel must undertake “a daunting task.” He said that, contrary to the expectations of many, the panel’s work is not to evaluate the many proposals for BQE reconstruction, but to
“review the state of the BQE, understand the traffic patterns of who’s using it, understand the realities of the issues surround[ing] construction and engineering and design around this roadway, and this corridor, and then with real facts and real understanding and real evidence, come together as a panel and offer ideas and suggestions on what should happen next.”
His only comment on the proposals that have been put forth is that he doesn’t believe any of them that require relocation of MTA fan plants are viable. “[I]t is in my mind doubtful,” he said, “that [the MTA] want to spend a hundred, two hundred million dollars when they have other needs that they have to address.”
Mr. Scissura also noted that the panel must consider “[h]ow will [the reconstruction] affect the surrounding communities, and the communities stretching into northern Brooklyn and Queens and southern Brooklyn and Staten Island?”
